New programs to boost Indigenous investment in responsible natural resource development projects will help ease the ongoing challenge of high unemployment rates, insufficient social programs and, in many cases, limited revenue.

The Alberta government will back up to $1 billion of funding for responsible natural resources development projects.

“Programs the Alberta government funded previously just did not go far enough to make a difference in communities that have been forced to the sidelines of Alberta’s prosperity. Not only have they been excluded from major investments, they have struggled to get and fund the social services they need.”

Rick Wilson, Minister of Indigenous Relations

“Our communities need to be self-sufficient, not dependent on funding from other governments. We have a partner in the Alberta government that is listening to our needs and working to make improvements that will benefit this generation and those to come.”

Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations

Quick facts

  • Budget 2019 includes $6 million of operational funding for the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
  • $5 million is set aside to support Indigenous voices in legal actions that support responsible resource development.
  • An additional $1.2 million is going to the Employment Partnerships Program to help develop strategies to employ and retain Indigenous workers and support labour market and workforce planning activities.